Back to EveryPatent.com
United States Patent |
5,592,772
|
Kim
|
January 14, 1997
|
Fishing rod and its method of manufacture
Abstract
A fishing rod includes an improved fishing rod including a tubular rod and
a first plurality of multiple longitudinally extending, helical weavings
intertwined with a second plurality of multiple longitudinally extending,
helical weavings of a tow or yarn disposed on the tubular rod, the
weavings defining a crossing interlocking pattern which provides high
elasticity, excellent softness and super power control properties. The
present invention is also directed to the method of manufacturing the
fishing rod.
Inventors:
|
Kim; Young-Mook (Pusan, KR)
|
Assignee:
|
Wonder Co., Ltd. (Pusan, KR)
|
Appl. No.:
|
366042 |
Filed:
|
December 29, 1994 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
| Apr 23, 1994[KR] | 1994-8746 |
Current U.S. Class: |
43/18.1R; 43/18.5 |
Intern'l Class: |
A01K 087/00 |
Field of Search: |
43/18.1,18.5
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
3421247 | Jan., 1969 | Hubbard | 43/18.
|
4653216 | Mar., 1987 | Inoue | 43/18.
|
Foreign Patent Documents |
2619340 | Feb., 1989 | FR | 43/18.
|
2695295 | Mar., 1994 | FR | 43/18.
|
57-125630 | Aug., 1982 | JP | 43/18.
|
Primary Examiner: Hail, III; Joseph J.
Assistant Examiner: Lin; I. H.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A fishing rod comprising:
a tubular rod having two ends;
a first plurality of weavings of tow or yarn helically and longitudinally
wound around said tubular rod in a first direction; and
a second plurality of weavings of tow or yarn helically and longitudinally
wound around said tubular rod in a second direction, the first direction
being opposite to the second direction,
said first and second plurality of weavings being woven together such that
they cross each other in the longitudinal direction in an over-under
relationship to define a crosswise tubular weave construction which is
both strong and flexible, the first and second plurality of weavings
crossing one another at locations distributed around a circumference of
the tubular rod,
each weaving of the first plurality of weavings crosses the weavings of
said second plurality of weavings, two at a time in said over-under
relationship and each weaving of said second plurality of weavings crosses
the weaving of said first plurality of weavings two at a time in said
over-under relationship,
the first plurality of weavings being wound at a first pitch and the
plurality of second weavings being wound at a second pitch, the first
pitch being one of a right-hand and left-hand pitch and the second pitch
being the other of a right-hand and left-hand pitch, and weavings being
made around the rod at only the first and second pitches except for the
ends of the rods.
2. The fishing rod of claim 1, wherein said tow or yarn is made of natural
or synthetic resinous materials, carbon or glass fibers, and natural or
synthetic materials containing carbon or glass fibers.
3. The fishing rod of claim 2, wherein each tow or yarn is present in
numbers of about 16 to 120 disposed around a circumferential cross section
of the rod.
4. The fishing rod of claim 3, wherein each tow or yarn is present in
numbers of about 60 to 80 disposed around the circumferential cross
section of the rod.
5. The fishing rod of claim 3, wherein said tow or yarn is in the form of a
string, a braid, or a bundle of fibers.
6. The fishing rod of claim 5, wherein the rod has two ends and wherein the
rod has a generally uniform circumference between the two ends thereof.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fishing rod and its method of
manufacture and more particularly, to an improved fishing rod including a
tubular rod and a first plurality of multiple longitudinally extending,
helical weavings intertwined with a second plurality of multiple
longitudinally extending, helical weavings of a tow or yarn disposed on
the tubular rod, said weavings defining a crossing interlocking pattern
which provides high elasticity, excellent softness and super power control
properties. The present invention is also directed to the method of
manufacturing the fishing rod.
2. Description of Related Art
Various types of fishing rods are well known in the art. Such conventional
fishing rods are made by the following process. After a properly sized
sheet of carbon prepreg such as a pre-impregnated material containing
glass fibers is wound onto a steel fishing rod as a mold, a polyethylene
or polypropylene tape is then wound on the rod mold. Thereafter, the rod
mold is molded and processed and the steel rod mold is then separated
therefrom and the tape is removed from the sheet to form the conventional
fishing rod.
However, such conventional fishing rods suffer from a number of problems
such as, for example, they tend to crack when the fishing rod is exposed
to shock. Also, conventional fishing rods do not posses high elasticity,
excellent softness and super power control, and also they are expensive to
manufacture due to the complicated manufacturing steps which are required.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fishing
rod, which eliminates the above problems encountered with conventional
fishing rods.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved fishing
rod including a tubular rod and a first plurality of multiple
longitudinally extending, helical weavings intertwined with a second
plurality of multiple longitudinally extending, helical weavings of a tow
or yarn disposed on the tubular rod, said weavings defining a crossing,
interlocking pattern which possesses high elasticity, excellent softness
and super power control properties.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of
manufacturing a fishing rod which comprises the steps of longitudinally
and helically weaving a plurality of weavings of tow or yarn onto a
tubular rod, said weavings being initiated from different positions along
the circumference of the tubular rod but proceeding in substantially the
same direction longitudinally along the rod for intertwining and forming a
crossing, interlocking pattern along the surface of the rod.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a tubular
fishing rod which is simple in structure, inexpensive to manufacture,
durable in use, and refined in appearance.
Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention
will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It
should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific
examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are
given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications
within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those
skilled in the art from this detailed description.
Briefly described, the present invention is directed to a fishing rod
including a tubular rod which is provided with a plurality of multiple
longitudinal, helical weavings which intertwine with each other and to a
method of manufacturing such a fishing rod which possesses high
elasticity, excellent softness and super power control properties.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed
description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are
given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitative of the
present invention, and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the fishing rod according to the present
invention; and
FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of an A portion of FIG. 1 showing
how the longitudinally extending, helical weavings disposed on the fishing
rod cross and interlock with each other to produce the reinforced fishing
rod of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now in detail to the drawings for the purpose of illustrating
preferred embodiments of the present invention, the tubular fishing rod
and its method of manufacture as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a
tubular rod 1, a first plurality of longitudinally extending tows or yarns
and a second plurality of longitudinally extending tows or yarns helically
intertwined with the first plurality of longitudinally extending tows and
disposed on the surface of the tubular rod 1.
The tubular rod can be made of any well known natural or synthetic resinous
(plastic) material, e.g., polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride,
various types of polyesters, and the like. Also the tubular rod can be
made of graphite, reinforced graphite, graphite-boron, and fiberglass.
The first plurality of longitudinally extending tows or yarns are
identified in FIGS. 1 and 2 as elements 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d. The second
plurality of longitudinally extending tows or yarns are identified in
FIGS. 1 and 2 as elements 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d.
As shown in FIG. 2, each longitudinally extending tow or yarn 2, 2a, 2b,
2c, and 2d, etc. is helically intertwined with each longitudinally
extending tow or yarn 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d, etc. in an over-under
relationship and thus are intertwined in a crossing, interlocking pattern
along the surface of the rod. The weaving process is repeated until the
manufacture of the fishing rod is complete. The number of weaving can be
varied to establish the desired properties in the fishing rod, such as
strength, elasticity and the like. Advantageously, the weavings cross each
other, two at a time in defining the interlocking and crossing pattern of
the fibers.
The tows or yarns 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d can be made of
natural or synthetic resinous materials, carbon or glass fibers, or
natural or synthetic resinous material containing carbon or glass fibers.
The tow or yarn 2 can be in the form of a string, a braid or a bundle and
advantageously, the resinous material can be an epoxy resin, a polyamide
resin, or the like.
The method of manufacturing the tubular fishing rod according to the
present invention can be described as follows. First of all, as shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2, the first longitudinal tow or yarn 3 is helically
intertwined with the first and second longitudinal tows or yarns 2 and 2a
by passing over the tows or yarns 2 and 2a, and is further helically
intertwined With the third and fourth longitudinal tows or yarns 2b and 2c
by passing under the tows or yarns 2b and 2c. Thereafter, the tow or yarn
3 is helically intertwined with the longitudinal tows or yarns 2d, etc.
and so on (not shown) by passing over tows or yarns 2d and so on.
The second longitudinal tow or yarn 3a is helically intertwined with the
same manner as discussed above but when yarn 3a is passing over two yarns
2 and 2a, yarn 3 is passing under one yarn 2 and over adjacent yarn 2a.
However, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, all the yarns cross
each other in an over-under relationship, two at a time. Although this
arrangement has been found to be particularly effective in achieving the
advantageous results of the present invention, it will be obvious that
many other weaving an interlocking patterns can be utilized.
The number of tows or yarns 2, 2a, 3, 3a, etc. wound around the tubular rod
can be varied depending on the properties desired in the fishing rod.
Obviously, the distance the tows or yarns are disposed on the rod relates
to each other affect the strength, elasticity, etc. of the rod. The closer
the spacing, the stronger and more rigid the rod becomes.
The tows or yarns 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d can be present
in numbers of about 16 to 120 for providing high elasticity and super
power control properties, preferably numbers of 40 to 100, more preferably
numbers of 60 to 80. These number ranges indicate the number of tows or
yarn disposed around the circumferential cross section of the fishing rod.
Accordingly, the fishing rod of the present invention as shown in FIG. 1
has high elasticity, excellent softness, and super power control so that
the tubular fishing rod does not break, has a long lifetime and can be
mass-produced. In order to produce a thick rod with increased hardness,
the weaving process is continuously repeated.
In addition, the fishing rod according to the present invention is simple
in structure, inexpensive to manufacture, durable in use and refined in
appearance.
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be
varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure
from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as
would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included
within the scope of the following claims.
Top